Knockout Games by G. Neri (review)
Karen Coats · Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books./Bulletin of the Center for Children's Books · 2014
Reviewed by: Knockout Games by G. Neri Karen Coats Neri, G. Knockout Games. Carolrhoda Lab, 2014 293p ISBN 978-1-4677-3269-7 $17.95 R Gr. 9-12 After her parents split, Erica is angry that she has to move to a poor neighborhood in St. Louis and be one of the few white people in her high school. She gets attitude from one girl in particular, but when the two girls get into a fistfight over Erica’s digital camera, Erica takes the blame and Destiny rewards Erica by inviting her into Destiny’s crew as a filmmaker. What Destiny’s filming, though, takes Erica by surprise: the kids, most of them in middle school, are trying to impress their magnetic older leader, Kalvin, by knocking out a random stranger with one punch. Initially repulsed, Erica feels a rush when her videos go viral, but she gets an even greater rush when she knocks someone out herself. Her new emotions are entangled with the glow she feels under Kalvin’s approval, even when, against her express wishes, he films them having sex and shares it with Destiny. By the time Erica realizes how troubled Kalvin is, everything has gone too far, and Erica has to face some harsh consequences. Rather than merely trading on the latest sensation, Neri crafts a hauntingly realistic story about the unintentional slides into moral uncertainty that can happen when a person feels lonely and unloved. Through Kalvin’s slick assurances, readers will half believe that knocking out a stranger is really [End Page 169] no big deal compared to what you gain from it: a physical high from the exercise of power and violence, and the admiration of people who seem worth attracting. It’s only ever a half belief, however, as Neri manages to get readers to both share and disengage from Erica’s perspective through her positions on both sides of the camera. This is a hard yet important story to share, even when the novelty of this particular violent “game” fades into the next one. Copyright © 2014 The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois